We didn’t have a lot of time to hang out in Memphis during our whirlwind tour of nine states in nine days. We had a quick lunch, and then looked for a nearby park to let the kids blow off some steam before pressing on another 3 1/2 hours to Nashville. I found a place called Memorial Park, which turned out to be a cemetery. Weirdly, it also turned out […]
My little daughter dumped all the money out of her purse onto the living room carpet this morning. It was mostly coins and one-dollar bills. She counted slowly and carefully. Her brother poked his hand in periodically, trying to sneak away a coin or two when she wasn’t looking. When she did look at him, he tried to invent a multi-dollar fine she could pay him for some imagined slight. […]
The Big M and I had a lovely anniversary trip to Seattle. He may be the gambler on a hot streak lately, but most of the time I feel like the lucky one. Feel free to roll your eyes. Sunday, what was supposed to have been U2 day, we drove down to Mount St. Helens. This May marked the 30th anniversary of the explosion. I was in kindergarten when it […]
Today was the first day of our home summer-school. It’s an annual fantasy for me that I’ll supplement my children’s educations during the summer so that they’ll be fluent in history, conversant in ancient and modern languages, whizzes at math, and just all-around baby geniuses. Annually the fantasy peters out because: a) I am none of these things myself and b) it’s summer and I just want to goof off […]
Until I can locate my camera’s power cord, there will be no vacation photos. Try to restrain your disappointment. ;) While the kids were at Vacation Bible School yesterday (a concept I find simultaneously delightful and mystifying given my secular upbringing — but that’s a whole other post) I spent an hour avoiding cleaning the house and instead watching the first two lectures in a series devoted to the history […]
We made it safely back after putting 3,245 miles on the Family Truckster in a mere 9 days, which averages out to a daily drive from Austin, Texas to Norman, Oklahoma. I can’t believe I’m able to write this truthfully, but the kids were awesome. They were *way* better behaved than I was on family vacations growing up. In fact, I think they were probably better behaved than I was […]
We’ve made it nearly 1,500 miles through five states in five days, and so far the family vacation has been a blast, ticks notwithstanding. I was worried about pulling off this itinerary with two relatively little kids, but they have been awesome. I mean really, truly, exceptional. I’m bragging on them while I can because the trip home — 18 hours of driving in two days — will be brutal. […]
This was the view from the back porch of our cabin near Hot Springs, Arkansas. Those woods are lovely, aren’t they? They totally sucked me in. Daddy suggested that the kids watch a movie in the cabin during our afternoon rest time. Oh no, I insisted. We need to walk on the trail through these lovely woods first. We’re tired, and it’s 95 degrees out, Dad persisted, with maddening rationality. […]
Flabby Brain 